Into the Wild (2007)

Most people think so. 84% of audiences gave it a thumbs up, by Google's archived audience score. Critics agree, scoring it 78%.

After graduating from Emory University in 1992, top student and athlete Christopher McCandless abandons his possessions, gives his entire $24,000 savings account to charity, and hitchhikes to Alaska to live in the wilderness. Wikipedia ↗

Into the Wild is a 2007 American biographical adventure drama directed by Sean Penn, based on Jon Krakauer's 1996 nonfiction book about Christopher McCandless. Emile Hirsch stars as McCandless, a top student and athlete from an affluent Virginia family who, upon graduating from Emory University in 1990, donated his $24,000 savings to charity, abandoned his car and possessions, and set out across America under the alias "Alexander Supertramp" to live a life of radical freedom in the wilderness, ultimately heading alone into the Alaskan backcountry. The film follows McCandless's two-year odyssey through the American West, where he works on farms, kayaks the Colorado River to Mexico, rides freight trains with hobos, and forms meaningful connections with people along the way — connections he ultimately abandons in pursuit of absolute solitude in the wild.

Sean Penn directed with an unhurried, meditative style that captured both the genuine beauty of McCandless's rejection of materialism and the dangerous naivety of his romanticized view of nature. Emile Hirsch lost 40 pounds to portray McCandless's gradual physical deterioration in Alaska. Eddie Vedder's stripped-down folk-rock soundtrack, featuring original songs written specifically for the film, was a perfect accompaniment to the journey's contemplative tone.

Into the Wild earned $56 million worldwide on a $15 million budget. The film sparked ongoing debate about whether McCandless was a courageous idealist or a reckless narcissist.